Mikel Arteta has confirmed Bukayo Saka will miss Arsenal’s trip to Manchester City, while Noni Madueke, Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori remain late fitness calls before a match that could shape the Premier League title race.
Mikel Arteta has confirmed Bukayo Saka is out of Arsenal’s Premier League meeting with Manchester City, with the Arsenal manager also leaving the door open for a number of other senior players to return if they come through the final training session. Arsenal go into the game on the back of Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Sporting CP, which sealed a 1-0 aggregate win and a place in the Champions League semi-finals, but attention has quickly shifted to Sunday’s title-race test at the Etihad Stadium.
Arteta was definitive when asked about Bukayo Saka’s chances of facing Manchester City. “Bukayo is out, that’s for sure,” he said. The Arsenal manager added that the winger is “just starting to do some stuff”, with the focus now on how quickly he progresses rather than any immediate return. That means Saka will miss one of Arsenal’s biggest remaining league fixtures.
There was more encouragement around Noni Madueke, who was forced off in the second half against Sporting. Arteta said the winger had recovered better than first feared, although he stopped short of guaranteeing his place in the squad. “We have another training session tomorrow,” he said. “He didn’t look that bad after the game, and he was quite positive. He’s a player who pushes through pain, so I’m hopeful that he can be available, but we have to wait and see if he’s able to train tomorrow.”
Arteta was also asked about Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori, all of whom missed the Sporting second leg. His answer suggested at least some hope, but not much certainty. “We will try again,” he said. “Some players are quite close, but the turnaround is short, so we will try tomorrow to push everybody, and if they are in good condition, they will be part of us, and if not, they won’t. They haven’t been in the last few weeks, unfortunately.”
The wider tone of Arteta’s update was one of frustration mixed with defiance. Arsenal have had to manage repeated absences through the season, and he made a point of stressing how much the squad have already absorbed. “We’ve had to cope with that all season,” he said. “If you look back at the stages and the players that we’ve missed for big, big, big periods and where we are, it’s not normal where we are. But we have coped with that because of our mentality and the solutions that we find, the way the players have stepped up in this moment. And we are where we are. We are still very strong and we will remain the same way.”
That backdrop matters heading into Sunday. Manchester City begin the weekend six points behind Arsenal with a game in hand, with Pep Guardiola calling the match a “final” for City’s title hopes. Arteta’s immediate problem, though, is simpler: get as many players fit as possible and send Arsenal to Manchester in a condition strong enough to defend their lead at the top.